AFL-CIO says it helped Dems

Big Labor is patting itself on the back for softening the blow yesterday’s elections had on congressional Democrats. And for all the credit it’s giving itself in helping liberal lawmakers hang on, labor isn’t sorry for the role it played in ousting embattled Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

Tuesday’s election, which gave Republicans a commanding majority in the House and more power in the Senate, was a disappointment to union members, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters Wednesday. But the labor group’s grass-roots organizing prevented “even worse” results in states like Nevada, West Virginia and California, he added.

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Trumka credited labor with helping Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) win his tight reelection bid in a state with a high number of union voters. “We played a significant role,” Trumka said of the Nevada Democrat’s victory over tea party favorite Sharron Angle. The AFL-CIO chief stumped for Reid last week in Reno, telling supporters Nevada was “ground zero” in the battle of Main Street versus Wall Street.

One race organized labor didn’t help win was in Arkansas, where Lincoln was unseated by Republican Rep. John Boozman. Lincoln’s loss is credited at least partially to the draining Democratic primary challenge she fought off in the spring — in which labor groups, angry over her opposition to the public option in health care legislation, backed her opponent.

Trumka said he has “not one regret” about Lincoln’s loss. “We didn’t think she stood with us,” he said, adding that the union will continue to prioritize principles over party loyalties. It’s “quite likely you’ll see more of those decisions in the future,” he said of future races.

Trumka pushed back at the notion that the election results are a mandate for many Republican policies.

“The election wasn’t an endorsement for tax cuts for the wealthy or undermining Social Security or the minimum wage,” he said. “This election was about the economy and jobs, plain and simple.”